Ready or Not

What does it feel like to learn music under deadline pressure, the way a working musician has to?

Apparently, I have given myself the chance to find out. On Monday I did a dumb thing and signed up for the Piano With Jonny Student Recital on June 18. The problem: neither of my two potential recital pieces is quite ready. If the recital were July 18, I’d be able to take my pick. But it’s June 18, which means I have about four weeks.

So here’s what I’m working with.

After You’ve Gone

I learned Jonny May’s stride arrangement of After You’ve Gone earlier this year, but the improv solo section was giving me headaches, so I set it aside. I picked it up again a few weeks ago and found I have renewed interest and something of a vision for what it can become.

I could sit down and play the version I learned earlier for the recital right now — muddle through the improv section, play the simple stock outro I added a few days ago, and call it done. And that may indeed be what I play on June 18.

But that’s not what I want to play.

I want to add a short intro and a second solo section. I want the final run-through of the head to have some added runs and punchy chords woven into the melody. And I want the outro to end with a bang ... or perhaps a bluesy whimper.

Ode to Joy

The other piece is Ode to Joy, another Jonny May arrangement — a fast, technically demanding stride take on the Beethoven theme. I’ve been working on it for about six weeks and can play it through at roughly half the target tempo. Some sections are starting to feel automatic; others are nowhere close.

Can I get this to my desired performance level in a month?

No. Yes. Maybe? I have no idea.

The Plan

My original instinct was to focus on After You’ve Gone and then drop out of the recital if I didn’t feel ready. But that’s a bad plan. One does not cancel a recital, even a student one.

So After You’ve Gone will be both my primary focus and my fallback position; I’ll keep the easier performance-ready version in my back pocket while working on the fuller arrangement I actually want to play.

But I’m not dropping Ode to Joy either. I’ll prepare both pieces as if both are going onstage. Around June 8, I’ll assess which is in better shape and shift my focus accordingly.

This is probably too much to take on. But here’s the thing: if I want to play professionally after I retire — which I do — there will be times when I have to have music ready whether I feel ready or not. An immovable deadline is exactly the kind of pressure I need to learn to work under. So why not start now? I’m game.

I’ll check back in as June 18 gets closer. Wish me luck!

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